Couldn't locate my youngest totally black, long-haired, feral kitty this morning. She is now in the habit of hunting (lots of little critters being born) so she's usually in the back lot looking for stuff to chase.

Walked down and found her approaching me and to my horror, I thought she had been terribly injured since there was a huge, light colored lump hanging off her on her front shoulder.

As she turned, I was shocked to see that a baby possum was clinging to her long silky fur. So here's the kitty, dancing around, I can't grab her, she's running and playing and at one point, licked the possum!

Then she was joined by an older 'brother' and the two of them tussled and then I saw a poor dead (2nd one) possum lying in the grass. Sad. Nothing I could do. BUT the live one was still clinging to the kitty so I finally managed to grab its tail and tried to find a safe place to put it away from the cats.

The baby possum kept hissing and spitting (very good if you are a HUGE possum) but not so good if it just attracts the cats. Duh. I tried several locations, a tree branch (it crawled DOWN to the ground), a patch of overgrown geraniums (cats found it immediately).

I wanted to keep it near where I found it so MOM could come back tonight and save it. Finally I took it up to my yard and tossed it in a huge 'jade tree' and hoped it would scurry in deep and hide. Nope. It just sat there hissing and the cats were on it in a minute.

Then the black cat that was the kidnapper, rolled over it and the possum grabbed on again. Cute but scary as now there was a fence and tons of vegetation between me and the cat/possum combo and the second cat was still attempting to play with the possum BUT at least it stopped hissing, so the black kitty just ignored it.

Finally, I remembered the shoelace with a cloth mouse attached which all the kitties LOVE. Dangled it over the fence, chummed both cats and finally the one with the hitchhiker came over to my yard and I was able to grab the little possum again. He started hissing again. Darn darn.

Now I'm being followed by 2 cats again. I thought and went into the house, dangling a possum by the tail, got a nice soft washcloth, wrapped the possum in it and he stopped hissing. Hooray!!!

Took possum in its new 'pouch' back to where I found it, tucked it into the geraniums and after 2 hours, it's still cozy in the artificial pouch. Hopefully this will last all day (it's cloudy and spitting rain) and MOM will find the baby tonight and take it somewhere safe.

Loads of energy expended and sorry one of the 2 cuties didn't make it, but maybe one will.

Kidnapping cat so cute! Possum baby happily hanging on the long fur. What a sight!

I've seen some crazy stuff, but that is just about the craziest! The little possums don't usually leave mom for some time yet, so I wonder if the cat's snatched them from her as they are pretty slow moving compared to a cat.

You could write a number of books SortaB

Wow...

How long is the oppossum? Is it under 7 inches? If so, maybe mom died. Too cute that he's holding on to the cat!

Ah, the possum is about 5-6 inches not counting the tail. Seems alert, well fed, and fiesty, can climb branches, walk on ground from where I place him. but being as there were TWO I think they were abandoned or fell off mom, or just got 'gotten' by the feral hunter cats who are very persistant. Possibility that they fell out of their 'nest' which might be in my tenant's derelict truck. Pretty good size, not 'pinks' as they call the tiny ones. I'm going back down in a few to see if the survivor is still in the makeshift pouch. If so, he can spend the night and if he's there in the morning, I'll know that mom isn't around. It's about 4 feet away from the truck so maybe mom is sleeping up on the engine. Hope so. There are 2 or 3 adult possums who come for dinner each night. Hoping this little guy gets picked up. If not, maybe I will find him hanging on my black cat again.

Lots of vegetation down my driveway and I leave it pretty 'wild' for the animals. Also spotted 3 baby raccoons last night but they didn't come to the feeding table. Might just have been passing through following mom to another hiding place. Seemed to come from across the street as they crossed the sidewalk and crawled under my front gate before disappearing around the side of the house.

It's SPRING. Lots of everything hatching.

Ferals are weird. They seem to change their mind in a moments notice on whether an animal is prey, something to care for, or a toy.

We've had quite a few ferals that hang out at our hunting cabin because I put a couple shelters out for them in late fall to gain their confidence. If they are willing later on, we bring them into one of the local vets. We're lucky to have a local vet up there that will spay or neuter them and try to find a good home, because they take an awful dent out of the critter and bird population up there. Had a few here around our home and have been trying to get on their good side to do the same thing.

You may want to notify a wildlife rescue. Mom won't come back for them. They are too small to be alone. Oppossum babies

Trail, that is awesome that you do that for the ferals.

Yeah, if he's that little, they definitely don't leave their mothers yet. He will still be nursing - if you have a wildlife rehab center, I'd definitely take him there.

Had the Wildlife Rescue number all ready to go, but sadly, the 2nd little guy didn't make it through the night. Darn. I was really hoping mom or dad would come back for him. Just too much trouble for the baby. Every year I find little ones, not eaten or mauled, just gone. Don't smell any dead things around the area, yet. Looking for other babies today, but I think these were the only 2 that got abandoned. Wish the feral Outdoorsies would find something else to play with.

Now to check on the Mom Cat and her 3 week old kittens. I think she has moved them AGAIN. I'll have to alert my neighbor, since I think they are now in his abandoned garage. Saw one of the older guys going through his yard and into the broken out window this morning. The little ones should be safe in there as only cats can jump into the window. No crawl up possibilities there.

I'm sooo tired of watching out for baby wildlife. Kudos to those of the rest of you who also do their best in helping out Mother Nature. Thinking about your quest, Trail! Time and energy and worry every day with all the critters we try to help.

I'm really sorry to hear that, Sorta.

Ana